Improvement in hats



W. WElZlL.

Hats.

No. 210,441. Patented Dec. 3,1878..

win/ess es.' In 22618529 @Z5/2%@ I WM9/W- L JWMW" NPEYERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTN. D C.

'UNITED STATES PATENT OEErcEc WILHELM WETZEL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN HATS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 2l0,44l, dated December 3, 1878; application iilcd May 6, 1878.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILHELM WETZEL, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Hats, of which the following is a specification:

Hats for men, and to a certain extent those for women also, as hitherto made, exert a practically uniform pressure upon the entire circumference of the head of the wearer, and consequently press upon the frontal, occipital, and minor occipital nerves with a force that, however slightly perceptible, eventually paralyzes said nerves to a greater or le'ss degree, I

and givesv rise to headaches,J neuralgia, and in very many instances to permanent baldness.

The object of this my invention is to obviate these detrimental results by providing a hat with which all pressure upon the aforesaid nerves is entirely avoided.

Figure l is an inverted plan view of a hat made according` to my invention, and Fig. 2 is ahorizontal sectional view taken through the band of the hat.

The body, brim, lining, sweat-band, 85e., of the hat may be of the usual form and structure, and consequentlyneed no detailed description here.

Underneath the usual sweat-band (shown at a in Fig. 2) I place strips b, of felt, leather, or other suitable material, with spaces a between the adjacent ends of said strips. The latter are secured in place by cement or other suitable means. As a consequence there is provided in the inner circumference of the lower portion of the hat a number of indentations, recesses, or cavities, c, the sweat-band a sinkin g (or being sunk or impressed) into the spaces a".

The number of indentations, recesses, or cavities c corresponds to that of the nerves hereinbefore specicd, so that when the hat is placed upon the head the said indentations, cavities, or recesses will be brought over the said nerves, and the latter, as a consequence, wholly relieved from any pressure, it being, of course, understood that the said indentations, recesses, or cavities be properly located or placed in such position along the hereinbefore-specified inner circumference of the hat that when the hat is placed on the head one of said indentations, recesses, or cavities will be brought over one of the said nerves. For example, taking a hat of twenty-one inches internal circumference, and starting from the median line of the forehead, the indentations, recesses, or cavities intended to relieve the two frontal nerves will be upon opposite sides of said median line, and each at a distance of about one and one-half inch from said line. Measurin gin abackward direction about seven and one-half inches also from said line on each side, the localities for those intended to relieve the minor occipital nerves will be indicated, and measuring still farther back from said median line on each side and to the back part of the hat a distance of about nine and one-half inches, the localities of those intended for the relief of the occipital (meaning the larger 0ccipital) will be found.

It is, of course, to be understood that these directions are general, and that the width of the indentations, recesses, or cavities aforesaid should be sufficient to obviate the necessity of close calculation as to their respective localities, their relative position being substantially that above indicated, although their absolute distances apart must necessarily vary somewhat with different sizes of hats.

It is also to be understood that the method or means of providing the indentations, recesses, or cavities may be varied, it being sufficient for the purposes of my invention that the indentations, recesses, or cavities be provided in such number and position as to relieve the frontal, the occipital, and the minor occipital nerves from pressure, as herein set forth.

What I claim as my invention is The hat made with the indentations, recesses, or cavities c, provided in number and relative position to relieve the nerves of the head from pressure when the hat is worn, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

WILHELM WETZEL.

Witnesses:

HENRY EICELING, H W. ELLs, Jr. 

